Page 29 of The Dragon's Stormwoven Bond

“We can’t just not speak to them.” Was that the road he thought we were going down? Sure, this was a rough patch, but that didn’t mean it was going to stay this way.

“That was never going to happen, mate. We weren’t going to let this go on forever.” It had already gone on far too long.

“Of course not. But today is just as good as any other day. Why don’t you go talk to my dad?”

I sighed. He was right. It was time, and I truly did need a friend.

“Do you want to be there when we let him know how many?”

Pep kissed my cheek. “No. I don’t have a death wish. You go ahead and let him know.”

“Brat,” I said.

“Indeed. Now I’m going to go home and nap in our nest. When you come home, please bring the blankets my mother set aside for us. And also, she made us an apple pie. Don’t eat all of it. Make sure I get some.”

“Of course, mate.” I grabbed my keys and took my mate’s hand.

We walked together, slower than normal. This had to be done, and it sounded like Katrina had paved the way for us. Now was the time.

Please let him understand.

Chapter 17

Pep

My nest was perfect. Finally. Thanks to my amazing mate and his surprise-to-me carpentry abilities, I now had the perfect foldable desk that I could use while in the nest. It had enough room for my laptop and my portable monitors, as well as a spot for my phone, my tablet, and coffee cup. Plus, it was beautiful.

When I was young and thought about becoming a father, nowhere in my imagination had a work-from-home-nest been in the scenario, and yet here I was, thrilled to pieces over it.

Valen had spent the time staining it the beautiful cherry wood, a color I mentioned in passing the night we met. It had been a random get-to-know-you type comment, and Valen had not only heard it, but filed it away for later. There was no denying it—I mated up.

I would have to find some way to use it in the future. It was too beautiful to only use it this short period of time. Perhaps the kids could use it as a play desk once I was done spending all my time in the nest. Or maybe it could be altered to work with the couch. One thing it wouldn’t be for was work. All too soon, I was going to have to return to working from my office. That was going to be a difficult transition with five little ones at home.

I’d managed to work from Talls Hall most days, since I extracted myself from the nest. But sometimes I needed to be home in my nest, resting, and this had been the perfect solution. Once I laid our clutch, this would become my full-time workplace until they hatched.

My stomach grew far larger than I had anticipated. And so quickly at that. Yesterday, I had gained an inch… an entire inch. I wasn’t sure why my hugeness was shocking to me. I had five dragonets growing in there. I was lucky to be able to fit in my mate’s sweats still.

We had had several visitors, including Rhythe, since word got out about the clutch. Rhythe was my favorite of all company. When he was here, I never felt like I had to entertain or feed him. He wasn’t company, not really. He was an extension of me, and there were days when he spent just as much time in the nest as Valen and I did.

My mom had come to visit, too. She brought over some of her favorite things that she wanted to have in the nest, as well as several frozen meals and recipe cards for crock pot meals that we could throw together. She was the typical doting parent, excited for their grandbabies in every single way. It was both adorable and awkward. I loved my mom to pieces, but this gooey sweet side of her wasn’t something I was used to, and it tended to make conversations a tad awkward.

Cooking never had been one of my strong suits, but apparently my mate enjoyed spending time in the kitchen. He could have at it. Valen and my mother had discussed recipes at length while she had been here. I spaced out and missed most of it. For all I knew they were talking about cooking grass and rocks. Still, it was great seeing the two of them getting along.

She hadn’t been Valen’s fan over the years. She thought he’d made shitty choices, and he admittedly had. She had pushed all of that away when she discovered we were mated. It couldn’t have been easy for her.

Of course, my dad was notably absent. I knew that his conversation with Valen had gone well and had hoped that would make things between us easier. It hadn’t, and a lot of that was on me. I didn’t know what to say to him… how to interact with him.

Rhythe wasn’t any help in that department. Growing up, we’d always helped the other when we got in hot water with one of and sometimes both of our parents. But with this situation, he kept out of it. I understood why, but I still hated it.

I was in my nest with my desk, working away on some of the exciting things that would launch our project into the next phase, when the doorbell rang. I didn’t bother getting up. Instead, I pulled up the doorbell app.

My father was there on the screen. He had his hands buried in his pockets. His was the last face I expected to see. I clicked off the monitors, being mindful of the regulations for me.

“Come in,” I said through the microphone.

He startled a bit, then pushed his way inside.

“That technology is just creepy,” he said.

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